Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. In fairness, it is a concern that it has been seven years since we have had a review. At our last housing meeting we got an assessment of the price to rent a house in Carlow, which was €700 a month. That is totally wrong. It is €1,000 per month if not €1,100. The figures are totally wrong. The biggest issue here is that when people apply to go on the local authority housing list their overtime, maintenance payments and family income supplement are taken into consideration. That limits the number of people who can qualify. There is no real appeal mechanism. Perhaps we need to look at that.

Mortgages with local authorities are only based on earned income. One has to be earning an income to qualify for a mortgage. That is another bracket. People on family income supplement do not qualify to go on the housing list and people cannot get a mortgage. This is urgent. The figures the local authorities and the Government are giving are totally wrong. We need to help these people. These are the people who cannot save, cannot afford a mortgage and cannot go on the housing list.